Prefreshman Summer Program: “You Belong”
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About 200 members of the Cornell Class of 2023 began their college careers this week as they arrived on campus for the university’s Prefreshman Summer Program. Select students, including 15 from the ILR School, will spend the next six weeks on campus taking courses while making friends and getting to know faculty and academic advisers.
The program, which students are either required or invited to participate in as part of their admission decision to attend Cornell, can be a tough transition for the newcomers, but a team of 21 program assistants – including ILRies Jenniffer Flores ’22 and Jordan Miller ’22 – are on hand to help. Flores and Miller, known among the program participants as PAs, were invited to attend PSP last year and the experience left them wanting to help ease the transition for this year’s class.
“When I was in PSP, I was really close with my PA Victor [Odiwuor] and he would talk me through things,” said Miller. “I really looked up to him as a mentor and then when it came time to think about what I wanted to do for the summer, I thought being a PA would be a comfortable environment."
Program assistants for the program live with the incoming students in the Hans Bethe House. They are with the first-year students for the entire six weeks, eating together, attending field trips, guest lectures and participating in a wide range of social activities. Unofficially, their role lasts for much longer than the program.
“I also had Victor as a PA, and there was also Henessy [Pineda] and I had a really good relationship with both of them,” said Flores. “They both made a really huge impact, not only for the summer, but throughout my first year. I still text them sometimes if I need something and they're always there for me.”
Students take courses and earn up to nine credits toward their degree. While all ILR participants take one core course, like “Labor History,” other courses can include economics, writing, history and skills for college success.
For Flores, a first-generation student, the program helped her to “get situated.”
“When I came in initially and I had to get up early and do the work and get ready for prelims, it felt tough,” she said. “I was struggling and I couldn’t ask my parents for advice. So, I talked to my PAs a lot. I talked to [Associate Director, Multicultural Affairs] Jessie [Mancilla] a lot. And when the first semester started, I was already in the workflow and accustomed to everything. A lot of the little things I dealt with over the summer during those six weeks helped me over the entire year.”
For the students participating in the program, the tangible benefits are evident through the accumulation of course credits, friends and institutional knowledge, both Flores and Miller agree that perhaps the greatest gain is in self-confidence.
“I was really hard on myself when I first got here,” said Flores. “I didn't get the best score on my first prelim and then I was thinking I didn't deserve to be here, and that I needed to work twice as hard as everybody else. But you have to recognize the background you come from. Just be okay with realizing that you may need more help than everyone else but that doesn't mean you can't get there. You're at Cornell. You're here. You belong.”
“There's a reason that you're here,” Miller said. “Cornell chose you.”